The Tefal Actifry can fry food with a small amount of fat, only one spoonful is required which usually means the Actifry produces food with just a 3% fat content. It is no wonder that the Tefal ActiFry is one of the most popular cooking appliances in the world.

Chips are what people normally think of when they look at fryers. Cooking tasty chips, the Tefal ActiFry does so very quickly and by producing as little fat as possible when compared to conventional fat fryers. The Tefal ActiFry can also be used for cooking a wide range of other dishes that a traditional fat fryer is capable of. There are other dishes which can be cooked with the Tefal ActiFry that aren’t normally associated with a fat fryer.

Using an ‘air frying’ method, the Tefal ActiFry can be responsible for creating delicious fried food that only requires a solitary spoonful of oil. When compared to a traditional deep fat fryer, this is about one hundred times less.

Do you want to cook 1kg of freshly fried chips which is more than enough to feed a family of four? This is very simple with the Tefal ActiFry. By loading chips into it, put a small amount of oil onto the spoon that’s provided and then set the timer. When your chips are fried to perfection, the Tefal ActiFry alerts you.

Here is an outline of how the Tefal Actifry works…

Just one spoonful of oil is needed to cook up to 1kg of chips

A versatile device, 1000’s of different meals can be cooked

The Tefal ActiFry is very easy to clean and so too is its dishwasher safe cover, cooking spindle and basket

The timer and alarm makes it very easy to operate

A measuring spoon, instructions and recipes are included

Parents can find it very difficult to get their children to eat healthily. In fact, it can be literally impossible. Have you lost count how many times you’ve tried to convince them to eat a spoonful of green vegetables? Many parents have attempted to do so by hiding vegetables in mashed potatoes. Not only do children find it difficult to eat their vegetables but also siblings and their parents! You’ve probably been tearing your hair out in frustration because of how hard you’ve tried.

Have you tried losing a couple of pounds or stay away from comfort food which can pile the weight back on? Weight gain is often blamed on work, stress or simply because of middle age. However, we can all be our own worst enemy. Even when we can resist temptation, wouldn’t it be brilliant if we could forget about the weight loss regime now and then and not have to worry about putting on weight?

If you answered yes, the Tefal ActiFry might be the answer to your prayers. Although the term ‘fry’ can make many people think twice, there is no need to when food is cooked with the Tefal ActiFry. Thanks to their revolutionary ‘hot air’ fryer, chips can be cooked which only have 3% fat. Not only are they healthier but they have a marvellous taste too!
Using hot air to coat food evenly in oil, the Tefal ActiFry isn’t just a modern chip pan. This is because it can cook a wide range of delicious dishes which are family favourites – Sweet and Sour, Roast Potatoes, Chilli’s, Stir Fry’s and Spaghetti Bolognese are the tip of the iceberg because there are plenty of others.

Putting low fat cooking aside, there are other benefits of the Tefal ActiFry such as how fast its cooking time is. Sausages can be cooked in less than ten minutes with no oil. Want fresh cut potatoes with your sausages? If so, only twenty minutes are needed to cook them to perfection which everyone at the dinner table will love having a second and third helping of. Not every child loves courgettes but when they are sliced and tossed into the Tefal ActiFry, they are crispy and delicious which is a taste that children love.

When frying food, one of the main downsides is how much mess is caused. However, as there is a dishwasher safe pan and lid with the Tefal ActiFry which requires little oil, it is inherently easy to clean. When it is being cooked with, the lid stays shut which prevents oil from splashing onto the surrounding worktops. Therefore, stains don’t happen to worktops or the clothes you’re wearing.

The Tefal ActiFry comes in four different models. The ‘ActiFry – White’ is the smallest and it can fry 1kg of food. The ‘ActiFry – Black’ is a limited edition model and is slightly bigger because it holds 1.2kg. If a large family want a bigger model, they should choose the ‘ActiFry – Family’ which has a 1.5kg cook pan, new auto stop feature and a digital display.

A brilliant addition to any kitchen, the Tefal ActiFry offers one great solution after another when families want to have an alternative for their dinners. New dishes can be created and family favourites can be adapted with the ActiFry cooking method. There are many hot air fryer books available or you can make your own recipes. Not only is the Tefal ActiFry fun to use but it is very healthy too.

So that you eat healthily with the Tefal ActiFry by using a minimal amount of oil, a measuring spoon is provided. With two ends, a measuring spoon enables you to know exactly how much oil is needed. You’ll never have to guess by using it and you can continue to eat healthily.

Incredibly easy to use, it couldn’t be simpler to operate the Tefal ActiFry. After food has been put into the Tefal ActiFry, the only thing you need to do is press the ‘on’ button. By selecting on the timer how long it should be used for, all you have to do next is wait for the food to be cooked. It’s as easy as pie! Once you’ve initially operated the Tefal ActiFry, using it again will be just like riding a bike – you never forget.

Once the timer has been set, it will tell you when food is ready to be served because it will make an audible beeping sound. The fryer doesn’t turn off when the alarm has sounded and, unless you press the button to stop it from making a noise, it will keep beeping.

A clear plastic lid comes with every Tefal ActiFry. Dishwasher friendly, Tefal have designed their clear plastic lid so that food can be looked at as it cooks. If you want to check what it looks like as it is rotating in the hot air fryer, you can.

After the timer has counted down to zero, a loud audible alarm sounds off which can be heard from several rooms away. If the alarm on the timer is not switched off, it will continue to sound often but, once it’s been turned off, it will be quiet.

It is expected for the parts on modern domestic kitchen appliances to be dishwasher-friendly and Tefal is no different. This is because the parts of its entire range can be cleaned in a dishwasher. Not only can the non-stick fry pan be washed by hand but it can be placed into a dishwasher. Its filter, rotating paddle and plastic lid can also be cleaned in a dishwasher. Although you might want to occasionally wipe the inner and outer casing, it will stay very clean because as little oil as possible is used.

So that food is removed safely from the Tefal ActiFry, it is easy to do so with the fry pan. It has a heatproof handle that is on its side which results in it being very easy to remove the pan and serve as soon as possible. Even when the Tefal ActiFry is used for hours, the heatproof handle never gets warm – you could even pick it up without an oven glove. It is advised that you keep a close eye on the pan because, after it has been removed, the pan can be very warm and shouldn’t be handled by children.

Operating the Tefal ActiFry can be baffling at first. However, a convenient guide comes with every device which details what the cooking times are for various meals along with the amount of oil that’s required. If no oil is needed, this is detailed. A guide also contains recipes which your family can have fun with.

One of the most popular fat fryers, this is largely because the Tefal ActiFry can produce very tasty food without using the amount of fat needed for a conventional fat fryer. Its ‘air frying’ cooking technique uses a fan to circulate and coat food with oil. As a result of the popularity of ‘air frying’, many other models of the original Tefal ActiFry have been released

The best selling Actifry is white in colour, the Tefal ActiFry can suit the kitchen décor of any home and is the first version of this device. There is a ‘Limited Edition’ version, it has a black colour which is very stylish. The ‘family’ version launched because of there being a huge demand for a Tefal ActiFry which could be used by families for cooking huge meals, it has 50% more capacity in comparison to the standard version. There is also a ‘plus’ version having been designed to provide greater cooking capacity whilst being roughly the same size as the standard model, the Tefal ActiFry ‘Plus’ can cook 20% more food. This has been achieved as a result of modifications being made to the internal design of the Tefal ActiFry.

A measuring spoon, manual and handy guide comes with all Tefal ActiFry’s. As it has an easy to clean design, which also takes into account the fry pan, paddle and lid, no mess is caused and it can be put straight into a dishwasher. Producing low fat and healthy food which has a delicious taste, the Tefal ActiFry can do so very quickly.

I have finally given up and purchased an ActiFry. I have been keenly looking at these for a while but to be honest the price was putting me off a little bit. It seemed quite a lot to pay for an elaborate chip pan. However over Easter weekend, when we stayed with friends, my mind was changed and I decided to bite the bullet. Our friends have an ActiFry, the food was quick to cook, delicious and of course cooked with little or no oil at all. My friend cooked chicken for the children the night we arrived, quickly and with delicious results. She also told me she did all manner of other meals including sweet and sour chicken, one of my favourites!

Cooking is something I’ve always enjoyed. Before the children came along I would spend hours making things, rarely following a recipe and enjoying the results. I loved having dinner parties or just pottering in the kitchen making a meal for my husband and I to enjoy with a nice bottle of wine. These days however mealtimes are usually fraught, the children aged 11 and 7 are now getting to an age they’re more likely to enjoy the same food as us but we’re still not there yet and I often find I cook two meals, or make food which I find slightly dull.

As a family we do try and eat healthy, but with a busy family life, both of us working and the plethora of meetings, sports, social engagements we dash in and out, grabbing food less as a family than we’ve ever done before, and I’m told it will only get worse as the kids hit teenage years as well! The rigors of family life in the Twenty Tens!

The additional factor to buying the ActiFry is about weight loss, well I certainly hope it is! I am currently on the 5/2 eating plan or FAST diet! I don’t like to call it a diet as I don’t think it is, but I do enjoy the fact it works and I am losing weight. What I tend to do on a FAST day is provide my family with one meal and have a low cal alternative. This is often a supermarket meal which claims to be 375 calories or less. The problem however is I’m not cooking something fresh and we all then tend to eat something different. My plan with the ActiFry is to try and cook low fat delicious family meals which we can all eat and I can include in my ‘FAST’ eating plan.

I can’t wait for my ActiFry to arrive.

Day 1 – D Day

It arrived this morning whilst I was working, a benefit of working from home! I unboxed it straight away; it’s actually a really good looking machine. We decided to order a black one, as our kitchen has other black appliances. My friend had the white one which looks really nice as well. But my husband thinks the black one suits our kitchen, it must be a man thing!

It arrived with minimal packaging, just set in between two pieces of polystyrene which was easily disposed of, then a cardboard box for the recycling, easily flattened! So many items ship these days with ridiculous amounts of packaging. Refreshingly simple! Well done Tefal, like your style!

Monday is a really busy day in our house; I coach netball at my daughter’s school and don’t return home with the children until 5pm. Then my daughter and husband bolt down some food before leaving the house for their Karate lesson at 6.15. I also rush out the door soon after to my own Netball match, which all means dinner has to fit into an early window between 5pm and 6pm. Normally I cheat and heat something easy. Usually something with a carefully marketed label aimed perfectly at people like me, on our busy time restricted pursuit around the supermarket shelves. For me the concept is always better than the reality, and usually leaves me feeling I’ve filled myself and the children with too much salt, fat and guilt! Yes Jamie, we know we should cook, but we sometimes just run out of time!!

However this week, I hadn’t even made the supermarket for my easy cook meal. I did have some lovely Cotswold Sausages in the fridge though! A quick read of my new Tefal ActiFry guide told me these should cook in 10- 12 minutes! Oh really! I doubt my spuds will be cooked in that time!

So here’s how it went…

5.15 – ActiFry washed for first use.

5.20 – ActiFry loaded with 8 Cotswold sausages and a smidgen of olive oil ( they say sausages don’t need any, but as these had less fat, decided a little bit of oil might be better).

5.30 – I think they could do with longer and as predicted my spuds aren’t cooked yet!

5.50 – Plating up dinner – Looks really lovely, evenly coloured sausages. They had 16 minutes in all. The food was juicy, cooked perfectly and stayed warm in the machine whilst I plated up the vegetables.

6.15 – Loading dishwasher – dinner done in under an hour and the family has eaten broccoli, peas, carrots, some mashed potato and some perfectly cooked sausages. It was quick, children have had their veg and the ActiFry all loads into the dishwasher . Perfect!

So far so good!

My FAST day

Well today is my FAST day, which means I need to eat no more than 500 calories all day. I tend to eat some porridge in the morning with a little fruit to sweeten it, this should be 120 calories and then dinner is usually the remainder up to 380 calories.

My grocery delivery arrived this morning, so I actually have some food in the fridge again. I have purposely not bought anything heat and eat, so the ActiFry can do its stuff.

I spent last night reading the ActiFry cook book, which ships with the machine. The cook book is simple and offers some quick ideas for low calorie cooking which appealed to me. However because I’ve done this slightly out of order, I ordered my groceries before I’d read the book so didn’t of course have any of the right ingredients for the ActiFry cook book, but it did give me an insight into what I could do with it and ideas of how long to cook things for.

Tonight for dinner I cooked some roast potatoes for the children to have with their Gamon which I had baked in the oven, and then I turned the ActiFry back on to quickly whip up some prawns and veg for me to eat with them. The potatoes once cooked were kept warm in the oven, they took about 18 minutes to cook and were absolutely delicious, (I was tempted to try a very small one!)

As my prawns were cooked and only needed heating through, I sliced some mushrooms and a red pepper, blasted these in the ActiFry for about 6 minutes in half a tea spoon of olive oil, until the mushrooms were looking cooked and the red pepper taking on some colour. I then added the prawns to warm through for a few minutes, finally I spooned in 2 tablespoons of natural yoghurt and a good squirt of sweet chilli sauce. I stirred the yoghurt mixture into the food with a spatula before putting the ActiFry back on again for another couple of minutes.

The mistake I think I made was leaving the machine on a little too long at this stage as my yoghurt mixture didn’t like the heat so much. I think next time I try this I would only give it a quick blast of heat for perhaps 30 seconds to 1 minute, making the yoghurt sauce warm, but not letting it get runny which mine did.

Regardless, the food was very nice, prawns warm and peppers and mushroom well cooked and not overcooked either. Plus my dinner was all within my 380 calorie limit for the day.

I think if you’re using the ActiFry correctly, you will need to keep checking your food and making sure things don’t overcook too quickly. It does make cooking very fast though!

Food for thought Tefal…

The only negative thing I can say about the ActiFry at the moment is about the timer, which I think is rather in effectual! Perhaps Tefal should think about providing a more advanced timer system, a quick cook button which gives you a 30, or 60 second cooking mode which then stops the machine when the times up! Just a thought!